The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-06-05
THE SHAKESPEARE MYTH.
IGNATIUs DONNELY AIRS HIS
CRAZE IN THE
North American Review" for
June, and Makes n Case that
Satisfies MtmseIf.

The traditions which have come
down to us concerning Shakespeare
do not, auy of them, point to the
habits OF scholar or gentleman.
The first glimpse we have of the
family was when John Shakespeare,
his father, was fined II pence, in
1852, for maintaining "a conspicuous
sterquinarium before his house in
Henley street" \ The first
tradition we have concerning Shakes
peare himself is that of an ale drink
ing contest with the "Bidtord
topers," while yet a young man, in
which he became so beastly drunk
that he could not reach home, but
slept all night by the road side. We
are told that he was deer stealer,
and given to all manner of unlucki-
ness" and that Sir Thomas Lucy
had him oft imprisoned and whip
pc l." n y The last tradition
we have Of him is that his death was
the result of a drinking bout with
Draytou and Ben Jonson. Neither
his father nor mother could read or
write, and Halliv ell Phillips doubts
if there was a book in the house
of his parents. There is no refer
euce to any book or papers in
Shakespeare's will. His daughter
Judith signed her name with a cross,
Imagine the daughter of Herbert
Spencer or William Il. Gladstone
land the author of the plays was
greater, wiser and more learned man
than either OF them) unable
to read or writel 1t is inconceiv-
able. y y Shakespeare himself
never claimed the plays. He did not
put his name on the title leaf of any
of them; for the name on the title
leaf is in every case William Shake
speare," very often printed with a
hyphen, thus, Shake speare,"
while the three signatures to his
will aud the two others to legal in
struments, these being the only auto
graphs we have Of him, are in each
case spelled Shakspere, which must
have been pronounced Shackspere.
And this seems to have been the ac-
cepted pronunciation in Stratford. In
the records Of the Town Council the
name OF Shakspere's father occurs
1876 times, and in not one instance is
it spelled Shakespeare. 1t is given
as Schacksper, Shackesper, Shaksper,
Shaxpeare, and Shaxper. In "the
poets" marriage bond it is "Shags-
PEREZ" \ y y Bacon's dearest
friend, Sir Tobie Matthew, was I'm
doubtedly in his secret. Sir Tobie
writes Bacon letter in acknowledge
ment Of the gift Of "a great and no
BILE token" presumed to be the
Shakespeare folio OF 1923, and he
adds this postscript:
1.-THE most prodigious wit that ever knew,
| OF my nation and Of this side of the sea, is OF
your lo,d,hip's name, though he DO known
| by another"
Bacon, in the sixth book Of "De
Augmentis," says:
,"As for writing, Il is performed either by
the, common alphabet, which Is used by ey.
| orJbody, or by secret and ptivste one,
agree agreed pPoH by particular persons, which
That is to say, a cipher is a secret
alphabet, And we find Bacon CORE
spending with Sir'Tobie, and refer
ing to works Of his recreation" and
to works of the alphabet" And
then, about the time the Shakespeare
folio Of 1923, in which, be it remem-
bored, half the plays appear for the
/ first time, is about to be published.
we find Bacon writing to Sir Tobie
that 1t is time to put the alphabet in
frame" What was the frame?
The iolio-ior l shall show that the
cipher depends on the paging Of the
folio, and the paging is as q frame to
the TEXTILE North american Re
VieU.